Demon of Sand
by Hyungnim
Summary: When Naruto loses control of the nine-tailed fox's chakra and kills Gaara in the battle after the third chunin exams the moon decides to make Gaara a new guardian.
1. Awakening

**Disclaimer: I do not own RotG or Naruto or their characters.**

**A/N:** _This idea came to me a few days ago and begged me to write it so here it is. I might just leave it as a one-shot but if you guys want I will continue it. I hope you enjoy this!_

Gaara lay still, staring up at the full moon. He had always been drawn to it. It had never bothered him, he just assumed the beast he held inside himself had been responsible for that. That was gone now. He was gone. That kid with the ninetails had made sure of that. Gaara had thought Naruto was out of chakra when he had suddenly been engulfed by and orange chakra belonging to the demon fox. He had watched, too exhausted to move as the chakra transformed the boy into a two tailed fox. A second later it was all over.

He sighed. It seemed his existence had no meaning after all, he hadn't killed a single of Konoha's ninjas. A wind rose around him, ruffling his red hair. He blinked as he felt another presence. It was the moon. "What do you want?"

He hadn't expected an answer but he had received one in the form of an impression. The moon did not speak in words so much as vague ideas. The idea it was giving Gaara was _sand_. Gaara sat up. Could he still use his sand after he died? Well it was worth a shot.

He took his gourd off his back and poured some sand into his hand. Closing his eyes he focused on his chakra. His eyes snapped open in surprise as he realized that he was now a being made purely of chakra. He had shed his body in death and taken this new form. That made this much easier.

He mixed the sand into the chakra of his hand and walked over to a nearby tree. Experimentally he punched it with his non-sand hand. It went straight through, making no impact whatsoever. Taking a step back he threw all of his weight into a punch with his sand hand. The tree splintered, cracking loudly as toppled to the ground. Gaara grinned. He went back to his gourd and began to mix more sand into his chakra. When he had finished he stood and looked up at the moon. He looked exactly as he did before he died with his sand armor in place, only where flesh had been before there now was mutable sand.

The moon communicated again. This time it was about the children Gaara had grown up with. Something about protecting them. Gaara scoffed. "You expect me to protect those who despised me, who isolated me? The only reason I can think to live know is to deliver to them what they dealt to me."

He slung his gourd over his shoulders and turned his back on the moon. The moon pleaded silently with him as he walked away through the trees.


	2. Believe it!

**Thank all so much for the support that this story received! I really had no idea how to continue it but I had to try after all of the support that I got to continue it! Hope this does not not disappoint! :D**

Gaara walked away from the Sand Pile formerly known as a Village. Silence filled the air where the screams of the people of sand had been only moments before. The red had soaked into the sand where it splattered against his face and coated his hands. He thought of replacing it with clean sand but he rather liked it this way. No monsters hidden within just a demon unmasked. His true self.

The Sand Village had proven itself too easy, they had not even put up a fight. It seemed that in this form he was invisible to others, except the moon of course but it hid itself on this night. Whether in horror or shame for having brought forth this demon on the world Gaara knew not. It did not matter anyway, he was on to his next target.

He formed a sand cloud and sped into the night. This one he was going to really enjoy.

.

Naruto looked at the sky as he walked down the silent street. It was a dark moonless night. The air was hot and oppressive, weighing down on the village like a herald of doom. Naruto shivered despite the heat. Today had been an ordinary day so why now did he feel so uneasy?

It had been a month since the Chunin exams and life in Konoha had returned to normal, well as normal as life in Konoha could get.

Naruto climbed the stairs to his door and inserted the key. The lock felt grainy and when he pulled the key out a few grains of sand fell to the ground. Naruto was instantly alert. Sand brought back memories of Gaara that he preferred to keep buried. He knew that Gaara could not be here, he was dead. And yet…

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to focus just in case something was off. He stood to the side as he pushed the door open. Nothing happened. Naruto ran through the hand signals and two duplicates of himself materialized beside him. "Go in and see if there is anyone in there or any traps."

"I don't want to go, it could be dangerous!"

"That's why we are going in, not him! If he dies we all do. It does't make a difference if we die."

"Oh, right."

"Just shut up and go already!"

"Yes, boss!" The clones said in unison before entering the apartment.

O.o

Gaara sat on top of the dresser kicking his feet as he waited for Naruto to return. The apartment was surprisingly clean for an orphan boy living on his own. It was a decent place too. Naruto had it good. That was about to change though.

The door opened and Gaara smiled. There was a quiet conversation outside and then two Narutos entered. Gaara shivered. This was a real nightmare. He couldn't die again could he?

The two idiots ran around the apartment for a little while before shouting to the original that it was all clear. They disappeared in clouds of smoke as Naruto entered his apartment. There he was, the brat that had ended his life. He was eager to get started on his revenge but this required finesse, he needed to know more before he acted.

Gaara hopped off the dresser and walked over to the table, sitting down across the table from the ramen eating boy. Was this really what he had for dinner all the time? It was amazing that he was alive at all.

Naruto slurped up the last of his noodles and exhaled loudly. "Aah, I love ramen!" He stood up and started whistling as he headed over to the dresser to pull out a pair of pajamas. "Time to shower!" The door to the bathroom closed and Gaara stood up. Did Naruto really feel it necessary to narrate his life? He supposed that living alone for so long would do that to someone. He used to talk to his sand after all. But that was different, he reminded himself viciously. The sand was all that he had had left of his mother. He had hoped that being dead would allow him to see her but she was nowhere to be seen. He could not even feel her in the sand anymore. He was truly alone.

He felt the sand trailing down his cheeks like tears. So the dead really could feel emotions. Gaara shook himself from that train of thought as he realized he was leaving a little sand pile on the floor.

The door of the restroom opened and steam wafted into the room. Gaara resumed his post on the dresser as Naruto crawled into bed. After a few minutes the boy was fast asleep. Gaara decided this would be a good time to do some reconnaissance. He headed to the kitchen, curious of what he would find. He opened the first cupboard which housed a few different flavors of instant ramen. The other cupboards were bare but for a few cobwebs. The fridge had rotten milk and some leftovers that looked long past their prime.

Jeez, this kid's diet was unbelievable. The rest of the apartment was much the same. Some clothes, a ramen poster, and basic living supplies. Naruto's life was proving to be quite dull as far as this apartment was concerned.

He glanced at the boy and saw something strange. A soft glow was surrounding his head. Gaara approached, curious as to what was going on. He tentatively reached out a hand but as soon as his hand entered the light the sand was drained from it and infused into the light. Instantly alarmed Gaara jumped back and assumed a defensive stance. He did not know what was going on but he wasn't taking any chances.

To his amazement the sand did not attack but instead took on shapes that moved with a life of their own. Gaara watched in wonder as what he could only assume to be Naruto's dream unfolded before him.

Sand Naruto stood behind the counter of a bustling ramen stand. He grinned hugely as he served his team and Iruka large steaming bowls of noodles. Naruto walked around the counter and approached the girl from his team. Gaara did not want to see anymore. He reached out and crushed the girl before anything could happen. The scene turned to chaos as they all tried to figure out what was going on. Gaara smiled. This was fun.

Naruto moaned in his sleep as Gaara wondered just how much he could manipulate this dream. It wasn't controlled by chakra but another energy that felt almost… magical. It seemed to resonate with his being as he attempted to manipulate it. The dream responded to him instantaneously and soon he saw himself standing a distance away from Naruto. The sand boy seemed to be paralyzed as he looked at the one he had killed smirking at him.

Naruto sat up in bed, his heart pounding, covered in sweat. His eyes were wide as he looked up. He stopped breathing as he locked eyes with Gaara.

Gaara felt himself go completely still, not daring to blink. Could Naruto see him?

Naruto screamed and leapt up, pulling the shuriken from beneath his pillow. "How are you here? Why is this happening?" The blonde did not seem to expect an answer but the panic in his voice showed that he was just as freaked out as Gaara was. Not knowing what else to do Gaara dove out the window. Three shuriken embedded themselves in his back as he landed on his sand cloud and sped away as quickly as he could will his sand to go.

Naruto did not have a prayer of following him at those speeds. He stopped in the middle of the forest where no one would randomly stumble upon him. What had just happened? Why was it always Naruto who did the unexpected, that seemed to defy everything he knew to be true?

Gaara yelled as he drove his fist into a tree trunk. His shoulders sagged as it fell to the ground. He was tired. Everything felt off since he saw Naruto again, Naruto seemed to give off some kind of energy that he was susceptible to in this form. But why?

Gaara heard a twig snap behind him. Whirling around he threw his sand at the new comer, pinning him to a tree.

"Whoa there! Greetings." The stranger was tall and slender, clothed in black to match his hair. Gray eyes stared at Gaara from ashen skin.

"How can you see me?" Gaara hissed as he pushed harder on his sand.

"Let me go and I can explain." The man grunted as the tree began to splinter behind him.

After a moment of hesitation Gaara let his sand fall to the ground. The man coughed as his lungs refilled with air. When he regained his composure he smiled at the red head. "Is that how you usually greet new friends?"

Gaara gave him a deadly glare.

"Okay, okay, calm down there. The name is Pitch, Pitch Black." The man paused, waiting for some kind of response. He got none. "We are of a rare breed, you and I. See, we were chosen. After we died we were brought back to serve a special purpose. I can help you realize that purpose."

"How can you see me?"

Pitch sighed. There was no distracting this one. Given the right circumstances that could be very useful. "Only those who are chosen as we were can see us. That and those who believe in us. It is a very different world we live in than that of the mortals. If you let me, I can help you accomplish great things." He held out his hand, waiting for Gaara to accept.

"I don't need your help, stay out of my way." And with that Pitch found himself being thrown back as the boy sped away into the dawn. This was going to be more of a challenge than he had thought.

**Sorry about skipping over the sand village like that but when I went to write it the piece refused to flow and this is where the keyboard took me. Feel free to comment with ideas on how to improve or things that you want to see happen in this story! Thanks for reading!**


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